The tornado that hit
Moore, Oklahoma had a casualty count of two dozen killed and hundreds injured, with the
cost of damage still being tallied, according to a recent report. Directly
after the event, social media sites began seeing a plethora of tweets and posts
of the damage from first-hand accounts, as well as a tremendous amount of hopes,
good thoughts and prayers – just as anyone might expect. On the ground, many
relief organisations moved in to give aid to those whose lives had just been
drastically altered by the storms.

But what were the reactions of those who not only believe in a divine creator, but also claim to know the mind of the creator or have a direct link to the divinity? First, I checked into what the largest, worldwide, Christian organization was doing to see what aid was coming from their leader. The Vatican’s response was to offer prayers, but not aid. Here are some notable citations from public prayers given by Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome:

“Let us pray for the victims and the
missing, especially the children, struck by the violent tornado that hit
Oklahoma City yesterday. Hear us, O Lord. Conscious of the tragic loss of life and
the immensity of the work of rebuilding that lies ahead, he asks Almighty God
to grant eternal rest to the departed, comfort to the afflicted, and strength
and hope to the homeless and injured”.

“Upon the local civil and religious
leaders, and upon all involved in the relief efforts His Holiness invokes the
Risen Lord's gifts of consolation, strength and perseverance in every good”.

Pat Robertson, a well-known Christian leader, gave his sickening opinions about the tornadoes
on The 700 Club. His response can be
summed up as ‘it’s their own fault.’
According to Robertson, the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent sky
father did not send the tornadoes; he only set the weather currents in place.
It is entirely the victims’ fault for building homes there in the first place,
and if they had only prayed more, or perhaps harder, they could have been saved
from the disaster. His lack of compassion mixed with an arrogant display of
‘knowing God’s will’ should be enough to turn any non-sociopath’s stomach.

With all the money the Vatican has received from its own members, not to
mention “donations” that have been coerced in order to buy “salvation” from the
Church, could the Holy See not even make a suggestion to donate funds or time
for those in need? Let alone, make a donation from their overflowing coffers? I
could not find a single statement inciting followers to give money or time. I
am quite sure local Catholic groups in the area are doing what they can to aid
those in need, and I am not trying to suggest otherwise. Good people will do
good things to aid their fellow humans. Luckily this is true even if the person whom
they choose as their representative to their deity doesn’t bother to tell them
that they should do so.

Billy Graham has been noted as one of the most recognised
Christian leaders in America. Well, let’s give credit where it is due. A
support organisation called Samaritan’s Purse, which is associated
with Billy Graham’s work, has been on the ground giving aid and helping to rebuild
since the skies cleared. They do so while telling the survivors that God was
looking out for them, while their sister-group, the Billy Graham Chaplains,
provide counselling and ‘spiritual’ support. While they certainly appear to be
doing more good than harm, I have to ask, are they taking advantage of a
horrible situation in order to push the agenda of the church onto susceptible
victims? People who have suffered and lost eagerly desire answers, even if there
is little logic behind those answers. At least this group is providing actual
help to those in need in addition to the sermons – although the comfort
provided by the Chaplains, to me, would seem very fleeting, and in reality
would only serve as a reminder that while God decided to save me, part of that
decision was not to rescue the children who were killed in their school, or my
neighbours and loved ones. It is my opinion that such a deity, if one existed,
does not deserve worship, nor should they be thanked for their so-called mercy.

As the storm caused a giant upswing in prayer posts (which I see as
nothing more than what I would call Religious Slacktivism), some posts from
prominent atheists began appearing as well to counter the prayers, not so much
to discredit or countermine the prayers, but to discourage the idea that
prayers would have actual, meaningful effects. The posts suggested donating.
One example tweeted by Ricky Gervais said that “The best way to help the
disaster victims is to donate athttp://redcross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999. #ActuallyDoSomethingForOklahoma“. Many
Christians were offended by the idea that an atheist would suggest that they were
not actually doing something to help. They completely ignored the fact that
Gervais was encouraging people to help one another. They were more focused on
how their actions (or lack thereof) were being belittled.

One story that received a lot of media time was from CNN. While
interviewing a random survivor of the storms, Wolf Blitzer made the mistake of
assuming that anyone who survived would be thankful to God and asked a young
woman named Rebecca Vitsmun if she was thankful to God. She very politely responded with, “I am
actually an atheist”. Good for her! It would have been very easy to just say,
“Oh, we are thankful,” or something else equally as ambiguous so as to not
publicly come out as an atheist, but she chose not to. The outcome of such a statement, if it were
made 50 years ago, would have had a devastating effect on this woman’s
life. It is good that we have made
enough progress that, at least so far, the negative response to her has been
completely overwhelmed by the positive. Comedian Doug Stanhope began a fund
saying, "It's important that our community shows that we have your back
when you come out publicly as an atheist."
Since that time, Sean Faircloth tweeted, “Give to the fund for the
atheist tornado victim's family or to relief generally or both. Options here: http://on.fb.me/11foemB“, adding a huge
audience of non-believers to the cause. Atheists Unite has raised more than
$100k in support of Rebecca
and her family. Becky Garrison has written an article detailing the story
of support among atheists.

Comparing the amount of donations and aid provided by atheists and those
of the religious may seem trivial or petty, but there is a reason I make the
distinction. It is my opinion that if someone prays, posts to Facebook, and
tweets, they are less likely to donate and less likely to become directly
involved in support of those who need aid. After all, they have already done
their part by praying, right? That’s good enough to still get into Heaven! Meanwhile,
atheists know prayers or good thoughts serve no direct aid to victims.
Therefore, atheists are more likely to actually take action and do what they
can to ease the suffering of others. In my mind that makes the atheist more
compassionate, considerate and caring.
We atheists know that we only have this life and that we need to make
the best of it for us and for everyone we encounter. Waiting for God to do
something is the biggest waste of time.

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